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Subaru and Swift observations of V652 Herculis: resolving the photospheric pulsation

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journal contribution
posted on 2015-11-10, 11:55 authored by C. S. Jeffery, D. Kurtz, H. Shibahashi, R. L. C. Starling, V. Elkin, P. Montanes-Rodriguez, J. McCormac
High-resolution spectroscopy with the Subaru High Dispersion Spectrograph, and Swift ultraviolet photometry are presented for the pulsating extreme helium star V652 Her. Swift provides the best relative ultraviolet photometry obtained to date, but shows no direct evidence for a shock at ultraviolet or X-ray wavelengths. Subaru has provided high spectral and high temporal resolution spectroscopy over six pulsation cycles (and eight radius minima). These data have enabled a line-by-line analysis of the entire pulsation cycle and provided a description of the pulsating photosphere as a function of optical depth. They show that the photosphere is compressed radially by a factor of at least 2 at minimum radius, that the phase of radius minimum is a function of optical depth and the pulse speed through the photosphere is between 141 and 239 km s [Superscript: −1] (depending how measured) and at least 10 times the local sound speed. The strong acceleration at minimum radius is demonstrated in individual line profiles; those formed deepest in the photosphere show a jump discontinuity of over 70 km s[Superscript: −1] on a time-scale of 150 s. The pulse speed and line profile jumps imply a shock is present at minimum radius. These empirical results provide input for hydrodynamical modelling of the pulsation and hydrodynamical plus radiative transfer modelling of the dynamical spectra.

History

Citation

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , 2015, 447 (3), pp. 2836-2851 (16)

Author affiliation

/Organisation/COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING/Department of Physics and Astronomy

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

Published in

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

issn

0035-8711;1365-2966

Copyright date

2015

Available date

2015-11-10

Publisher version

http://mnras.oxfordjournals.org/content/447/3/2836

Language

en